David has been chronicling his ordeal on his website, and here's today's update:

Update Friday 10/31/08 (Day 35):
No surprise updates today, another day of the same BS. I get a call back from the above person I’ve been dealing with (Barbara Bell), telling me that the main problem was the original people did not actual close the service from the previous owners. They took care of this, and literally once it propagates into the system, it will automatically put mine in and everything will start working.

Then around 3:30, I receive a call from dispatch saying they have a tech coming to the house to fix the video part of the order. I was confused, Barbara told me that everything would just start working. I felt like there were two separate stories going on, so I asked the dispatch lady to call Barbara and ensure they are on the same page before I waste my team by leaving work and potentially waste a tech’s time coming to my house.

Dispatch calls back and says that Barbara agreed to send the tech out. Ok. I go home and wait. The tech comes, goes downstairs, looks at the yellow light on the router, and turns to me saying “this won’t work”. Ahhh, of course not. He said that the order flowed through the system, but on the last step there were errors, so it didn’t actually go through all the way. He goes back and forth between the house and truck a few times, and the last time he just says “I have no idea what to do, your orders are just completely jacked up”. Of course they are, they only told me on the phone that everything had been cleared up. Apparently people had been ordering and canceling and ordering and canceling and changing names, etc that everything was just a huge mess.

So I get on the phone with the HOA Verizon group, who can’t do anything because everybody is home. Even though they are open until 8pm, they apparently can’t actually do anything. The tech was just amazed at how ridiculous the situation was. So after being on the phone for another 45 minutes of getting nowhere, I just told the rep I would call Barbara in the morning since she told me to. I call her around 9am, she’s on the line with somebody else and will call me right back as soon as she’s off. It’s over an hour later, still no call back yet.

I can’t wait to see what happens today.

David has already sent an EECB — which clearly didn't work. We wish we could tell you to cancel, David. Maybe you should consider small claims court? Or sending an EECB every week like that guy in the Shawshank Redemption?

Is The Verizon Fios IT Team Completely Incompetent? [DP]
(Photo: TeachingThomas )

Here's the EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) Bill sent to Verizon:

I am trying to sign up for FIOS service and now have to place a 3rd order in a week. I am particularly furious because it was supposed to be installed today and only found out my order had been canceled when I went to www.verizon.net/whatsnext and it showed canceled. I received no phone call.

Let me reiterate. I was supposed to be installed today. I took off of work today. I took the whole day off because the only time that could be given to me was 8am to 5pm. I only found out that my order was canceled because I happened to check the website again.

As of yesterday, 10/15/08, the order was still showing on the website for an install today on 10/16/08. I am now currently holding on my 9th phone call to get service.

I originally signed up with a door to door sales person [redacted] on 10/8/08 in the evening. I had a question the next morning whether the premier package for TV, that had I originally signed for, was considered essentials or extreme in the new setup. So I tried to call to find out.

Below is my log of phone calls.

10/9/08 - 9:05am
called 888-281-1511 - given to me by verizon person on phone during original order
-can't find my order. finds out I ordered from a door to door person. gives me a new number (866-326-7937) and tries to transfer me. answered by another person on the same number i originally called
10/9/08 - 9:08am
called 866-326-7937 - given to me by the previous call
-told me i need to call my local office and gives me 410-954-6260

10/9/08 - 9:10am
called 410-954-6260
-went through 4 separate menus. eventually hung up on by the system

10/9/08 - 9:15am
called 888-553-1555 - from bottom of sales order form
-10 minutes before phone is answered. told they have to put me through to a fios representative and gives me a new number (410-265-0577) and transfers me

10/9/08 - 9:26am
-Transferred to 410-265-0577
-hung up on by system

10/9/08 - 9:26am
-called 410-265-0577
-Connie [Redacted]
-Premier = Essentials TV Plan
-10/mo extra for Extreme TV
-can't find the order in the system to make the upgrade to extreme tv package
-says the 12.99/mo for 3 boxes is only good till the end of the year when the sales person says it is 12.99/mo for 1 year and that's what's on my paper
-can't cancel the order because they can't find the order
-takes my number and promises to call me back the following morning

10/10/08 - 12:00pm
called 410-265-0577 after not receiving the promised callback
Miss [redacted]
still can't find the original order
Doing a new order
$109.99/mo
Extreme HD w/sports package
20/5 internet
verizon freedom essentials
free HM DVR for 12 months
3 STB for 12.99/mo for 12 months
hbo/cinemax free for 1 month
-read back the above to the operator to confirm pricing and package details
-hang up at 12:35 with promise to call back once she gets her supervisor to check the order because it's not going through

10/10/08 - 2:05pm
Miss [redacted] called back
-install on the 16th
-Confirmation for TV and Internet [redacted] - double bundle until phone is brought over
-will receive 4 e-mails. 1st email is bundle terms, 2nd email is security and backup bundle, 3rd games on demand, 4th starz play - THESE ARE NOT ON BY DEFAULT I HAVE TO ACCEPT IT TO BE TURNED ON
-confirmed 20/5 internet and extreme TV
-cancel free hbo/cinemax by Nov 13th
-free install - 1 time activation for internet 29.99 - broken up into 3 month payments

-Confirmation for Phone [redacted]
-transfers on the 20th
-bringing over on copper first then switching over to fiber later
-freedom essentials package
-no activation charges for phone since it's a package
-1-800-688-2880 (8am-8pm)
-1-888-553-1555 (24 hrs)

10/16/08 - 10:55am
went to verizon.net/whatsnext to look at my install time again and it says Our records indicate that your order was canceled on 10/10/2008. If you believe this order was canceled in error or want to place a new order please call 1-888-553-1555.
Called 410-265-0577
Veronica
-Order [redacted] was canceled because of 2 duplicate orders
- [redacted] was original order that nobody could find originally. We now have to cancel this order so I can place a 3RD order which will be a duplicate of the 2nd order.
-I am being promised a 16/mo credit for 1 year because of the inconvenience
-I am being told i will be able to have an install on 10/20/08 for the new order which was the date of the original order
-11:25am
-Veronica is waiting for the old order to clear out of the system.
-we go over what the 2nd order had on 10/10/08 in order to duplicate that order
-it is taking a long time to clear out of the system so Veronica promises to call me back after it happens. She expects it should clear out by 1pm
-she takes my e-mail and e-mails me so I will have a point of contact in case she doesn't call back

I don't know what the installation expectation is for verizon, but I hope this isn't it.

I would like for someone to please ensure that my now 3rd order is processed correctly, that I receive my installation on 10/20/08, and that my 16/mo credit actually appears on my bill when it comes.

Bill CC'd the EECB to Consumerist and followed up with his success story:

I wrote earlier on 10/16/08 about my horrible verizon installation experience and CC you in an EECB that I sent to verizon.

It worked. Fifteen minutes after I sent the e-mail I received a phone call telling me they would see to it that I was installed that day.

They followed through. Not only did they follow through they exceeded expectations in being able to get my home number ported that same day as well.

I think, perhaps unrelated, my TV service stopped working a few hours later, but they are supposed to fix that tomorrow 10/17/08. We shall see.

Hopefully i won't have to do another EECB for my billing when i get my first bill!

Bill

Congratulations, Bill. Logging your phone calls was a smart move.

For more information about launching your own EECB, click here.

(Photo: cayusa )

Amy says:

I know you guys like to rip on Comcast, and now I better understand why. Yesterday, one of my three apartment mates had cable installed in her room. The guy took 2 and a half hours to do everything, which didn't make sense to me, because we've had Comcast cable before so everything should have been all ready to go. And then he left the outlets in the other rooms undone, and even ripped into my wall (see attached photos). And this is the "finished" job. I'm sure my landlord will be pleased.

Yikes. You might want to consider sharing these photos with Comcast HQ— be sure to request that the damage to your apartment be repaired and the outlets installed properly.

Belinda writes:

In early July my roommates and I visited an IKEA store in Schaumburg, IL. We spent over $1000 on furnishings that day, opting to have much of it shipped to our apartment in a week. On July 13, movers arrived and carried 14 boxes up to our second floor apartment. I arrived on the scene halfway through the delivery process. They carried boxes in and we pointed them either to the living room or my bedroom to set them down. We checked them off as they carried them in the door, not as they set them in the correct room. They hurriedly asked for initials and left. We grabbed lunch and returned an hour later to begin the long assembly process. I asked my friend to put music on in my room. She reappeared with my 60gb iPod Video, completely smashed.

I had purchased an iHome just the day before, and it was sitting on the floor next a lamp I had purchased at IKEA and taken home (rather than having it delivered). The iPod was docked on top of the iHome, and a long heavy box of wood had been dropped on it. It fell onto a wall outlet as well, cracking the casing and completely bending the prongs of the cords plugged into it sideways. I used pliers and fixed the lamp and iHome's electrical plugs, but the iHome was damaged beyond repair. The iPod dock on the top no longer functions at all, and the internal clock is now unable to distinguish between AM and PM, rendering this equipment a 60-dollar paperweight.

I called IKEA that day and presumably filed a case, because I was promised a return call the next day. I received no such call, and on July 15 I sent this message to IKEA through their online feedback form:

My IKEA order was shipped by Encenda on Sunday morning (7/13). I promptly contacted IKEA that day when I found that the movers had dropped a heavy box of wood from my MALM bed frame onto a wall outlet, iPod, and iHome speaker deck, breaking all of them. The outlet is cracked. My landlord assessed that we'd need new plastic casing. The iPod is completely shattered. I bought it for $399. The iHome's top connector the iPod was sitting in no longer functions. The iHome was purchased just the day before for $60. Considering the mass amount of damage done, I need to get in contact with someone who can help me receive some sort of compensation. Surely IKEA has an insurance policy with Ensenda. I called the day of the incident and was promised a return call the next day. I received nothing, so this is my second attempt at getting results. My phone number is [redacted] Thank you.

- Belinda [redacted]

Later that day I received this:

Hello Belinda,

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We do apologize for any difficulty that you may have experienced.

Please call the Schaumburg store at 847-969-9700, to present a case to management of this matter. If you already have a case please give them the case number.

We do apologize for any inconvenience, and we thank you for your inquiry.

Best Regards, Beldian
IKEA Customer Care Center

I promptly did just that, and after being transferred to enough different people that I had no idea who I was talking to, I finally spoke to someone who could possibly help me. She asked for a detailed account of what happened, which I relayed to her. She repeated it all back to me slowly and typed furiously, leading me to believe she was filing some sort of report on my behalf. Once we finished, she promised I'd be contacted "in a few weeks." I waited three weeks, received no response, and decided it was time to call to check on the status of my complaint. On August 12, I began my foray into IKEA's customer service yet again.

The first call was spent trying to locate my case. I gave my name, address, and phone number in every way shape and form, to no avail. I explained that I'd never been given a case number, but explained the situation in detail to other representatives. I said I didn't know if I was talking to IKEA or Encenda (the moving company), to which she hastily replied, "Oh no, whoever would have sent you to them was wrong. This is an IKEA issue, not the moving company's. They have nothing to do with it."

She put me on hold to 'check on something,' and after waiting 3 or 4 minutes, I heard a dialtone. She'd hung up on me. I called again and explained that I was trying to locate my case and was unaware of whether my property damage case should be taken up with IKEA or the moving company. She assured me that it was the moving company's issue and said she'd put me on hold to get a hold of the moving company. She hung up on me.

I called again and got a man who seemed genuinely concerned with my situation. I explained that I had just called two other times trying to locate a case that obviously did not exist, and insisted on filing a new one and starting fresh. He kept saying we'd "take care of this situation" and that everything would get resolved. I sat on the line with him in silence for about 5 straight minutes before he cut back in, making sure I was still there. When I affirmed this, he asked if he could put me on hold to contact the Schaumburg store (isn't that who I called?!) to which I loudly responded no before he put me on hold anyway a second later. I sat on hold for 45 minutes before I hung up and called the IKEA customer service line the fourth time. This woman checked and found a case that had been filed that evening (presumably by the man before he put me on hold for 45 minutes), and I asked for a phone number to the moving company. She got it for me and gave me a case number (finally!) before hanging up. She'd promised I'd hear something in 24 hours.

Sure enough, this time I got a response. I received a voicemail from a woman in IKEA's claims department informing me that she put a claim in with the delivery company because "they really don't have anything to do with property claims." I crossed my fingers and hoped that I'd hear from the movers, seeing as IKEA was the middleman in this situation and they hadn't done so well in getting my message across. Amazingly, I received a voicemail from a woman representing what I assume is the moving company. Cindy [redacted] from Veteran's Messenger service claim department... "just to follow up on this after investigating and pulling paperwork, there was no documentation on any paperwork that any items were damaged during this delivery, therefore we are denying the claim. If you have any questions, feel free to contact IKEA."

So I'm not supposed to contact the movers, I'm supposed to contact IKEA. Again. I promptly called her back and asked who exactly I should be talking to in order to receive compensation for the $500-worth of damage done to my personal belongings. She said there was something missing in the documentation, therefore the movers were entitled to deny any wrongdoing.

I opted to not contact IKEA. Long story short, movers dropped a heavy box on my electronics, obviously breaking them, then picked up the box and scurried out without mention of damage. I called IKEA that day to file a claim, was ignored, called 5 more times before finally getting a real case filed, was told that IKEA isn't responsible, was sent to the moving company's claims department, then was denied any wrongdoing by the moving company because IKEA hadn't filed some sort of paperwork.

This is just blatant passing of the blame back and forth, not to mention a slew of customer service representatives who seemed to be confused. Half of them assured me it was the moving company's fault, half of them assured me it was an IKEA issue completely. Now I have an apartment completely furnished by IKEA that I wish I never would have purchased. The furniture itself was a little under a thousand dollars, but adding in delivery charges and the damage, I spent around $1600 on this stuff. Pay close attention to your deliveries. It's been a few months and I've spent hours on the phone, but now understand I'll never be compensated for this disaster delivery. I have every piece of paper & receipt along with my shattered iPod and outlet casing prominently displayed so that I never forget the price of all this furniture. It's also served as a great segue into a heated explanation of my hatred for IKEA whenever a passer-by asks what happened.

We think that since you have a business relationship with IKEA and IKEA only, you should deal with them. Now, obviously that hasn't worked too well, but we recommend taking the following steps.

Write a very concise EECB (Executive Email Carpet Bomb) detailing the chain of events that you describe here. For more information about launching an EECB, click here. You need to reach someone at IKEA who actually knows what to do in this situation, and is able to file accurate paperwork.

If that doesn't work, and it may not, consider filing a small claims lawsuit against IKEA. It's easy and inexpensive, and it will make you feel better about your furniture if you win. Also, IKEA might not even show up, and you may get a default judgment.

Here are some email addresses to try, and some information about small claims court. Good luck.

Hi Consumerist, I figured I'd soon be writing you when I found out my only choices for Internet and TV in my new house in Manassas, VA were Comcast and Verizon DSL. Argh. I had already ditched Verizon's utterly worthless service for Cox cable in my old home, so I decided to bite the bullet and go with Comcast. As a daily reader of your site, this instilled quite a bit of dread.

The installer appointment was pretty typical: he shows up four hours late, doesn't bring a HD receiver with HDMI out, sets up his own cable modem on my account after I already told him I have my own modem that's sitting right next to him, and tries to close the appointment after setting the office (which has no TV) to receive TV channels, rather than the living room where I initially pointed out my big, obvious plasma TV and stated "I'll need to receive channels down here." I make sure to send him off with his own cable modem.

A couple weeks later, the only TV channels I can receive are a few soap opera channels and what seems to be the dedicated Air Wolf channel. Work and my chimney falling off my roof kept me too busy to worry about it for another two weeks, at which point I scheduled a service appointment. I went to work extremely early so I could leave in time for a promised callback so they can note what few channels I'm receiving and be there for the tech. Of course, I never receive a callback and the tech never shows up. Three calls to customer service at about two-hour intervals after the expired window all resulted in the same response: "Don't worry, he's just running late, he really will be there, we promise! Dispatch will call you in a few minutes." I was given a $20 credit on the first call.

11:00 pm rolled around and I was dreading losing time at work to a series of no-shows (which my boss had just recently experienced with Verizon FiOS). But then I remembered Comcast Frank! I browse the Comcastcares group on Twitter and see recently activity, so I figure what the hell, it can't hurt to try. I sign up and post a quick message saying the tech never showed up and I left work early for nothing. Within four minutes, Frank responds and after talking back and forth for a few minutes, determines the problem is either the cable box or the splitter. The coax cable at the splitter was tight, so I asked him if the box needs to be replaced, can I get one with an HDMI out? He replied that he'll request one and make sure I'm well cared for. Sure enough, the next morning I get a call from an exceptionally nice customer service agent named Rose who took down my info. Shortly afterwards, I was also called by Jeff, the district tech manager who was quite apologetic and unhappy that I was never contacted by the tech who missed my appointment. He scheduled another appointment for the exact time that worked best for me and the new tech, who was much nicer and far more competent, called me 15 minutes or so before he arrived and showed up exactly on time. The cable box wasn't the problem but he swapped it out for me anyway with one that had HDMI out, and fixed the wiring problem outside.

It would have been nice to have the problem fixed the first time around, of course, but thankfully Frank was there (late at night, no less!) to instantly cut through the BS and give the best customer service I've ever seen. If only more companies had a crack CS team like this, the world would be a better place. Thanks, to you too, Consumerist! Keep up the good work!

—Jeff

P.S. Oh, Frank is totally not creepy!

If you'd like to pester Frank about his company's crappy customer service, you can reach him at Twitter. Tell him we said, "Hi!"

Kyle says:

I'm in the basement playing video games and my wife calls down to me, telling me that there are two guys digging in our front yard. I run up stairs to check it out, and they tell me that they're running cable to my neighbor's house. I would have no problem with this, except that they were running the line through my yard, and not through the other patch of grass near the curb where they should have been running it. I spoke to one of them and asked why they didn't ask me if they could dig on my property, and he gave me some noise about needing to run it over here because of the line signal. I told him to stop digging for a few minutes while I spoke with someone at Comcast.

I call the local number, navigate the tree and finally get in touch with a human being. For the first time in probably 3 years, I did not confirm the woman's name before continuing. I explained the situation and she tells me that she can't do anything about it. I ask to be put in touch with someone who can do something about it. She asks me for either my phone number or my account number, both of which I decline to provide. She continues saying that she's trying to help me, I inform her that she does not need my phone number to transfer me to someone who can help me. She asks if I'm a Comcast customer, I say yes, but also tell her that it doesn't matter; if I was a Dish customer, they still wouldn't be able to dig in my yard.

At this point she starts trying to talk over me, and I raise my voice to drown her attempts to talk over me. Then she hangs up on me. I'm researching DirecTV and Dish as we speak.

We asked Comcast for their official lawn digging policy, but our email went unanswered at the time of this post. Kyle says that the Comcast workers did a good job covering up where they were digging, but he's "just irritated that two Comcast techs took it upon themselves to start digging on private property when there is an area near the curb that they could have used that isn't my property." He also adds: "The real test will come in next several days, seeing if any of that grass ends up dying."

Since we don't know Comcast's official policy about digging up your lawn, we'll just refer our readers to their official coffee making policy. It is totally irrelevant, but quite comprehensive.

Kyle sends an update:

Comcast has an easement on the property on the other side of the sidewalk, a strip of grass roughly 3 feet wide directly next to the curb. This same strip of grass is where the box is located, in front of my other neighbor's house.

Had they used this area (and this area only) I would have had no problem. Instead, they also used a part of my yard, which is not fenced. There is no easement on my property, aside from that "communal" strip of grass.

Comcast has written us back and will be investigating the issue further, but in the meantime, Frank, Comcast's Twitter-jockey, says:

"The rules and policies regarding utility easements vary by municipality guidelines. It is always our goal to do any type of digging in the least intrusive manner possible. "

Frank from Comcast sends another update. He says that Comcast was within its legal rights to dig up Kyle's lawn, but admits that it could have been handled better. (Like, by not hanging up on him.)

As a quick follow up regarding this situation. The place where work was being done was in the utility easement for [redacted], which is 12 feet from the curb. We are working with the Customer to learn more of his experience and improve it for others. But ultimately we could have done a better job of explaining what we were doing and what an easement is.

Yay, communication.

(Photo: u2acro )

After five weeks, 20 calls, a day off work and three visits that ended without any idea why Bayes couldn't get service, Comcast found the solution to this head-scratcher of a problem: The company hadn't run cable lines to Bayes's house.

...Bayes, a membership specialist for the National Rifle Association, said his problem began before the first service agent came to his home. The new-home specialist should have been able to tell Bayes there was no service to his new home from the first call, he said. None of the many other service representatives caught that error for weeks.

Comcast installed a line from the neighborhood hub to his home almost six weeks after his first call.

"We went above and beyond for him," [Spokeswoman Jenni Moyer] said.

But that wasn't enough for Bayes. Last week, he switched providers.

"Above and beyond?" Seriously?

Call the Cable Guy. Again. [Washington Post] (Thanks, Brian!)
(Photo: cmorran123 )

I have just recently put this nightmare to a close, but I thought I would share with you my story. After all, I used your site to get to the Executive Customer Service of Lowe's before I finally got any resolution.

It all started when I visited Lowe's of Roeland Park, KS back in May. Our house needed a new door and I knew they sold Pella doors and windows and did the installation as well. Off I went in May to get a new door and was told they would come out and measure the door and inspect the frame so they could verify the dimensions and estimate the installation costs all for just $35 which would be deducted from my purchase.

June 1st arrives and I go back to the store to purchase the door and setup installation. The salesperson I spoke to was confused, mainly because all the customers in the store kept asking him where other things were. After a few minutes and a few "no, that's the wrong door" comments, I believed we had a door and installation setup. The door had to be custom ordered and I was told I would get a call back to schedule the installation within a few days.

That same day the Installation Team called to say that our door was ordered and it should be in "ready for pickup" within a few weeks. I just expected they didn't read it was for an installation and let it slide. Sometime later, the installer calls to say he can install it on the 24th.

Install day arrives and the installer takes off our old door and then realizes the new door is the wrong size and was ordered incorrectly. He happily places our old door back in place and tells us they will need to reorder the correct door and that it will take another 3 to 4 weeks. So much for the $35 fee for them to measure for the right size when the salespeople can't pay attention.

In the meantime, my credit card statement arrives and I notice another charge from Lowe's for $960. They ordered the second door on my credit card without my authorization and without refunding me for the first door. I call the store and speak to a manager who claims he will call me back in 15 minutes. Three hours later and no call, I call him back and he passes me off to someone else who says they "will personally look into it". Of course, that manager tells me to call back in 30 minutes and when I do I was told he went to lunch 30 minutes ago. So I speak to a third manager who tells me that the normal process for this type of issue is to do a refund and reorder, but they didn't process the refund. He assures me that come Monday I will hear from someone regarding the issue. Although not very happy, I still need a door so I wait for a call.

I then get a call from a Customer Service rep who insists they refunded me the original door and that I need to check with my credit card company. I insist that since she is the merchant, they can call and do the same and that I have already verified they have not. Ten minutes later I get another call from "Jessica" who as it turns out is the only helpful person at this entire store. She said she would call the credit card company and look into it. However when she calls back she informs me that another manager gave her my credit card number and wants the first 4 letters of my mother's maiden name just so she can contact them. At this point I contacted Executive Customer Service with the issue.

Two days later and no word from Lowe's, I cancel my credit card because they obviously are giving it out to anyone that asks. Executive Customer Service states they will get to the bottom of it, which they do to some extent but the new door won't be here until July 24th. Since I need a new door, I wait. I explain to them what a pain it has been to find someone with any knowledge of how things work in their store and how dissatisfied I am with their responses. They offer an apology and to try and get the door in faster and refund the original incorrect door to my credit card.

Monday of last week and yet another person from Lowe's calls to say that he doesn't know the whole story, but he'll check into it and get back to me. Apparently he was the manager of the store and the phone was unavailable for 3 days. Executive Customer Service calls me yet again to assure me the door is being built. However, another person from the store calls to say she will personally see my door arrives on 7/24 and that it is a "product variance".

At this point, I'm tired of speaking with people about it and a complete lack of communication between anyone at Lowe's. I call her to ask what a "product variance" is and she isn't sure. Not wanting a rushed door and a company so incompetent to install it I finally cancel it and tell them they can keep their "product variance" and issue me a full refund including the new door, the $390 in installation costs, the $35 fee for "measuring" and the materials. She then offers me a discount, which is basically an insult at this point. Where was the discount for jerking me around for a month and a half? I explain that I refuse to do business with them and request the refund, to which she hands off to another person.

Sure enough all of it but the materials are refunded a few days later and a last call to get the materials refunded and all is done. I call Executive Customer Service one last time to say I've cancelled the order and that they need not call back because I won't be doing business with Lowe's ever again.

We're happy you were able to get a refund, and let's face it — you're probably better off shopping around a little to see if there's a local company that's more competent than that particular Lowe's location. As a wise man once told me, "You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em. Know when to walk away, and know when to run." Here's a handy flowchart that illustrates this important concept.

Here's Brandon's story:

I took my car to The Car Stereo Company in Los Altos, CA back in November of 2007 to get a stereo, speaker set, and GPS system installed. I met with a salesman who was very nice at the time, and convinced me that their shop would be able to do a good job installing these components. They informed me that they did this same type of installation before on another BMW and that they knew what they were doing. I scheduled an appointment early the following week to bring my car in for installation.

After I got my car back from The Car Stereo Company, I noticed that my climate control system inside my car wasn’t acting the same way it did before the installation. There was hot air coming out of the air ducts when I selected cold air. So, I took the car back to the store and asked them to take a look at it. At first, they were very agreeable to at least try to fix the problem, but they weren’t able to do so. I took my car back to them subsequent times to allow them the opportunity to fix the problem, but they just didn’t have the skill and wouldn’t admit it. At this point, the salesman was getting annoyed with my frequent visits. They had spent a few hours trying to repair my car unsuccessfully, and thought that they were now doing me favors by accommodating my requests to fix what they broke. In fact, a couple times when I brought the car to them to mend a problem that they caused, I got the car back with another item broken. For example, one time they tried to fix the hot air problem in the car and when I got the car back, the LCD on the climate control module was broken. When I brought this to the installer’s attention, he had the audacity to accuse me of damaging it myself. By this time, I realized that there was something seriously wrong with the work that this stereo shop performed, so I met with some professionals at Stevens Creek BMW in Santa Clara, CA. They work with an experienced, BMW-specialized aftermarket stereo installer and upon first meeting with him, he was able to determine the source of the problem with my climate control and also pointed out several other parts in my car that they unnecessarily damaged. The main problem was that the heater core housing had a huge hole cut in it. The heater core housing holds the heater core, which generates the heat for the climate control system. It regulates how much heat gets sent into the car. With such a large hole cut in it, the climate control system couldn’t operate normally. That explained why the air vents were incorrectly supplying hot air.

As a result of these findings, I decided that I did not want to have anything to do with The Car Stereo Company anymore. They were also becoming very difficult to deal with, and wouldn’t own up to the damages that they caused. I went to their store and asked for a refund so that I could take that money to go get the car put back to stock condition. They decided that they would give me a refund, charge a 20% restocking fee, but would not refund the labor fees. In addition, they added writing on the back of the refund check that would release them of liability of the damages if I endorsed it. So, I decided not to cash the check. After getting legal advice, I decided to go through my credit card company instead to get a refund for the merchandise.

So with this small amount of money in my hand, I thought I could go get my car fixed at Stevens Creek BMW in Santa Clara, CA. Yes, it was a little naive considering nothing is cheap to fix on cars, but the damages didn’t look that bad to me. Apparently the job is very labor intensive. The heater core housing is located pretty much in the center of the car, and it takes several hours to remove the necessary parts to get to it. There were also other things that BMW pointed out that were damaged. They came up with the attached initial estimate of $3,600 in labor and $8,053.91 in parts. I was dumbfounded and heartbroken that my poor car was in such a sad state. I couldn’t pay for over $11,000 in repairs on my own, nor did I feel like I should have to since the stereo shop caused all the damage! I’m sure you might be a little skeptical about how necessary this repair work was, and you’re wondering why it’s so expensive, but I got another estimate from an independent German car mechanic confirming the same findings. Not only that, the exact same thing happened to a Honda Civic owner when he took his car to a Circuit City and it cost just about the same amount to fix the car, as detailed in this article also posted on Consumerist.

So, after talking with a lawyer, he suggested to me that the best way to get the money for the repairs would be to sue the company in small claims court. I followed all of the rules and suggested steps for this process. I began with a demand letter. This was a good way to keep the matter out of court and let them know that I felt that they owed me the money without making things too complicated. After receiving the letter, The Car Stereo Company immediately turned the issue over to their insurance company. I struggled back and forth with their insurance company, and they ultimately refused to cover the claim. They claimed that I was aware that modifications would have to be made to my car to accommodate the stereo, and the procedures used for installation were typical. However, I was not made aware that anything would be damaged in my car, nor that the functionality of the car would be impeded as a result of this installation. Also, as BMW later informed me, the procedures they used to install this stereo are not advisable. And as I already mentioned, another independent German car mechanic confirmed BMW’s findings. I also got a letter from BMW, the German car mechanic, and the BMW-specialized aftermarket stereo installer agreeing that my demand was justified (see attached documents). At this point, I felt my only real option was to take The Car Stereo Company to court. They took no action after their insurance company denied the claim. I wrote up the court papers and had them served and waited for my court date.

The court result, as I’m sure you can guess since you’re now reading this article, didn’t come out in my favor. The judge said he was about to award me money for damages, but later changed his mind. I lost because (as the judge put it) I entered into an oral contract with The Car Stereo Company, and most oral contracts are binding in California. The contract that the judge said we agreed to was that I would pay for the damages on my own if The Car Stereo Company issued me a refund. I had no idea at the time I asked for a refund that I was entering into any sort of contract.

I explained to the judge that I also didn’t know what the cost of the repairs would be at the time of this conversation and that if I knew how expensive they were, I would never have even considered footing the bill for the damages. However, as many people know the law doesn’t always follow common logic, so that didn’t matter. What also didn’t help my case was that two of their witnesses (an installer and a salesman) said that I said to them, “I release you of liability of the damages to my car.” This crushed my case, and I told the judge that I absolutely did not ever say that to them. Honestly, who speaks in those terms anyway? The judge said he believed them and said their argument was more credible since there were two of them supporting their side of the story and I was the only one supporting my side. I explained that the witnesses were biased because they worked for the owner of the stereo shop. The judge’s response was, “They don’t look biased to me.” I couldn’t believe it. So, needless to say I was again dumbfounded by yet another ridiculous event in this whole debacle. That’s where the story leaves off. I couldn’t believe they got away with it.

Brandon also included the final repair bill and a letter from a car stereo installation expert describing the damages to his car.

Here's her letter:

I am appalled that anyone can speak the word customer service at Comcast. I am so angry with Comcast right now that I am going to compose an email that will be sent to every investor, stock holder, news agency, better business bureau, and consumer protection agency. Allow me to explain why I am so irate; you at least deserve an opportunity to answer why a company that you run is so negligent with it's consumers.

1.)I opened my account via the web with a live web rep via chat back in April. Because I had heard the horror stories, and because I worked for a local telco, I asked very pointed questions such as "will my service have any down time due to number portability?" and "Is there anything I can do to make sure that this is a smooth process?". The chat representative assured me that the transition would not have any down time, and that all I had to do was follow the link provided and then fill out the "Letter of Agency" form. I did that and received confirmation for both numbers.

2.)Comcast Rep did not show up on scheduled date, instead, he showed up almost two weeks later on May 5th, 2008 unannounced. I figured the wait was because of the number and I did not say anything about it. The technician installed the service. The number on the ticket read [redacted]. I was very specific in my original chat that this was the number I needed. I explained that I have advertising on that number. The tech TESTED the line and assured us that everything was installed as ordered. What he didn't tell us was that we were assigned a Comcast Native number. I was able to access the internet and make outbound calls but my inbound calls were just ringing, never actually going through to my home. This was due to the native number being placed on the line.

3.)May 5th, 2008, at 5pm, I contacted 1-800-Comcast. They informed me that it was a simple mistake, gave me the native number and explained that the problem would be corrected within 24 hours.

4.)May 6th, 2008 at 5pm. My services went completely down. No internet, no phone, no dial tone. I contacted 1-800-Comcast again. They explained that the earliest appointment time would be May 7th with an all day appointment (meaning by 8pm). At 8pm, the rep had not showed so I called. The rep on the phone explained that the tech had attempted to call the number on the ticket being reported for no dial tone, did not get an answer, therefore, did not come. They must have dispatched him, because he did show up at 10:00pm. He said he had fixed the problem. I could now use the internet and make outbound calls with the number [redacted] showing up on the other persons caller id, but my inbound calls were still going to never never land, not being received in my home. The tech explained that he could not fix it, that it was a portability issue and said that he would have his boss contact me the following day.

5.) Steve never contacted me. I finally contacted him at 4:00pm. He explained that I was a complete problem and that "corporate emails" had been flying all day and that he or his boss would email me with resolution by the following day which was Friday. No email. I tried to call him all day Friday, Saturday and Sunday yet he never answered his calls, returned my calls or emailed me to this day.

6.) I had three spanish speaking individuals show up to replace wire I assume. They dug a hole THROUGH my patio, buried that wire, then left the entire 1/2 acre of line exposed for the dogs to chew...Brilliant! I tried to ask them to NOT dig through my patio, but they could speak English, No Comprende!

7.) I called back in to 1-800-Comcast on 5/12/08. I spoke to Antonio. He said that a work order had been placed but that it was done incorrectly. He explained that the number had not been ported over correctly either. He said that he was going to correctly enter the work order but that I would have to go through another wound of third party verification. He said that the earliest he could have my new number up and running would be 5/22/08 before 5pm. He further explained that he could not enter a work order at the same time for our 2nd number. He said to call in on the 22nd and that they would then get the second number ported but that it would be at least another 7 days from the time that I call in.

8.) My box was reset, a call came from comcast and my number switched over on the 16th of may. The 2nd number was still incomplete.

9.) On 5/20/08. My phones went down again, no inbound or outbound, no dial tone at all again. I contacted the chat live rep again. The first rep said that I had taken the service off of my account which I had not done. He switched me to sales. The sales chat rep said that he should not have transferred me there and that he would try to resolve. He promised resolution by 9pm. He asked that I log back into this chat and check up prior to 9pm. I did. This time, the rep said that it had nothing to do with that and that this was an inside wiring issue. My questions was then why did rep #1 and #2 say that this was due to an account error and why did I just have my patio dug up to replace wire? She couldn't answer but scheduled an appointment for another tech to come out 5/21/08. This is now ridiculous.

Really it boils down to reps pushing the blame, passing the buck and taking no responsibility. It seems that there is so much corporate tape to go through that Comcast can't get out of it's own way. I want a working phone and I want it now. I was told that it would be installed and by a Comcast rep, I was told that there would not be any down time. Promise after Promise has been broken and contractually speaking, comcast has defaulted. What is going to happen with my advertising bill of 800.00 this month? Am I expected to pay it when obviously no customer could get through to my line? And what about all the business I lost?? And what about the property damage? This situation is a lot larger than simply not having a phone for a few hours. It has now been 16 days (and counting).

Much more transpired through calls and what not but it would simply be too much to write. I am now begging to have this resolved...pleading. My business depends on it. Would you be okay without a phone in your office for 16 days? With all the complaints I am sure that you would rather have it that way!

I have chat logs, copies of all correspondence, recordings, you name it. Ignoring me will not make me go away. I want resolution. This is an opportunity to fix the problem now, before I take this matter for review before the consumer protection agency, the FCC, the better business bureau and all the local news agencies. I hope that you take customer service and promises seriously; any business relies on it!

Shannon

After Comcast dug up our property without permission and left us without a phone for 16 days, we'd port our number to another company, have the damage repaired and file a small claims lawsuit for the amount of the repair bill... but that's just us. Here's some information on how to do that if Comcast doesn't come through with phone service and a little patio repair.

(Photo: u2acro )

From WRAL:

When 5 on Your Side called Circuit City, a representative called Byrd, but did not offer a refund. When 5 On Your Side called again, Circuit City Spokeswoman Jackie Foreman continued to say, "It's resolved," no matter what question was asked.

"If you do the work, fine, I don't mind paying you, but if you didn't do the work that you're trying to charge me for, no," Byrd said.

Five on Your Side also called the Circuit City store where Byrd bought her television.

The store manager agreed to look into it and escalate it to the people he works with at Firedog.

The situation remains unresolved.

Firedog Extra Fee Leaves Wake Woman Seeing Red [WRAL] (Thanks, Cheryl!)

$79 to disconnect something they never installed?

Working in NY, I have no time for installation from 9-5 on a weekday, and Verizon seems to feel that this non-installation constitutes "service." As such, they have decided to charge me for a month and a half of service (which I absolutely do not have), and additionally charge me for a $79 fee to disconnect or a $59 fee to "install" it for me. Having enough of this garbage, 50 minute waits on telephone, I think everyone else should avoid Verizon's service at all costs.

(Photo:Maulleigh)

Here's the fine print on the Ultimate Appliance Promise:

"If Sears cannot deliver or install on the day following your purchase of an eligible appliance and this failure does not result from an action of yours or a natural disaster, receive a $50 Sears gift card.
Requires purchase before 3:00 pm and excludes special orders and closeouts. Next Day Delivery and Installation are for eligible appliance purchases online in most major markets and in-store in most larger Sears stores and exclude holidays. Next Day Installation also excludes weekends. Ultimate Appliance Promise applies to major appliances, does not require additional purchase."

Here's David's experience:

I purchased a dishwasher before 3pm on a Saturday. The salesman told us we could not get delivery/installation the next day. He then proceeded to give me the runaround when I asked for my $50 gift card (which no doubt will lead to more suffering). He told us that "someone will call us within 24 hours" to set up delivery/installation.

Guess what. No call.

On Tuesday morning, 2 and a half days later, my Wife calls to inquire about delivery/installation. She gets disconnected 3 times and speaks to two women, neither of which is pleasant. They claim we don't exist. After some clarification, my Wife is pleased to find out that we do indeed exist and that there was an "incorrect phone number" to blame. The CSR proceeds to try and set up installation for Wednesday (mind you, 4 days after purchase - so much for "next day").

My Wife explains we will not be available on Wednesday and attempts to schedule for this coming Monday. She's told Sears doesn't deliver/install on Monday. Scratch another letter off that fancy graphic. The installation gets scheduled for Saturday. My Wife explains to the CSR that my Son is having surgery out of town on Friday and that we need to know what the window of time will be on Saturday. CSR says she can't do that. All we need to know is the earliest possible time that the installer will arrive so we can be there. This turns into an extended verbal battle. CSR finally reveals that this will be 9am.

After I heard all this, my intent is to cancel the order entirely and follow up with my credit card company to make sure we don't get charged. Something tells me that even if I go to Sears and cancel, someone will end up knocking on my door on Saturday. It's a shame...the Kenmore model we purchased is very highly rated, but Sears' service is abysmal.

Just a follow up...my Wife canceled our order this morning (or at least she thinks she did - only time will tell) at which time she was informed that Sears does not install on Sunday, Monday, AND Tuesday. Somewhat contradictory to their marketing.

Here's her letter:

Dear Best Buy,

I bought a stove on-line on January 3, 2008 (order number[redacted]). I paid for delivery ($60.00) and set a delivery date of January 28, 2008 in the hope that I would be able to use my new stove for the Sunday Brunch/Super Bowl party that I was planning to throw on February 3, 2008. When I ordered there was no mention that there would be a separate installation charge ($100), nor did the website describe the procedure for how to get the stove installed—it only asked me about delivery. For someone like me who has never purchased a stove before it was unclear that delivery and installation were two different things. When I purchased my new refrigerator from Sears last year, for example, they delivered it, installed it, and took away the old one, free of charge! It did not occur to me that this would not be the case with my new stove.

On Sunday, January 27, 2008 a local Best Buy clerk called to confirm the delivery time for the next day and informed me then (in response to my asking) that the stove would not be installed when it was delivered and that I had not requested installation. When I asked about how I could get the stove installed when it was delivered, the store clerk was completely unhelpful and blamed me for buying it on-line. I called the Best Buy helpline repeatedly that Sunday afternoon to determine what I needed to do to get the stove delivered, installed, and the old stove removed. Often put on hold I was entertained by the friendly Best Buy spokesman who informed me that buying appliances online with Best Buy was so easy and installation was a breeze! I'm sure that you can imagine that these reassurances did not help my frustration. In fact, no one was able to help me on that day, despite my many calls and what seemed to be their best efforts.

Repeated phone calls to the Best Buy helpline the next day yielded a promised installation date of Monday, February 04, 2008—a week after it was supposed to be delivered and too late for my planned party. I figured that this was the best that I could do under the circumstances. I waited all day for delivery on Monday, January 28, but no one came. I did, however, receive an email from Best Buy informing me that my stove had been delivered on that day. I wrote back to say, "hey, no it had not" and I received an email in response that said that they would look into it and that they had assigned my case to a specialist—ohh a specialist! I have not heard from said specialist, so I fear that your specialists are not so special.

I made many more calls to the Best Buy helpline, local store, and the distribution center. I was told that they would now deliver on Friday, February 1. I waited all day, but they did not come. I called and was told that the local store would contact the delivery guys and call me back as soon as they learned something. I received no phone call. Many, many more phone calls between me, Best Buy helpline, local Best Buy store, Distribution Center, Delivery guys, and Installation guys ensued. I had now wasted two whole days waiting for my stove to be delivered without getting a stove.

Finally, my stove was delivered yesterday (on Super Bowl Sunday while I had a house full of guests). Today the stove was installed (only a half hour late!) and seems to be working fine. I suppose that I should be grateful that I have my new stove, but I have to admit that I'm still quite frustrated. On a positive note, I liked that the many times when I called your helpline there was an actual human being to direct my call—well done, Best Buy! Additionally, the many Best Buy helpline folks I spoke to were friendly, but unfortunately there was little that they could do to actually get my stove to my house or get it installed. The local people I spoke to were rude and frustrating, for the most part.

Here are my questions for you now: Why doesn't your website tell consumers that delivery and installation are not the same? Why not give them the information about how to arrange to get their new stoves installed? Why did I have to make phone calls to five different levels of the company to get my stove to my house and installed? Why has no one offered to refund my delivery charge?

Obviously, I am not pleased. Recounting my tale of woe to everyone I know has frequently yielded the same question: "Why didn't you order your stove from Sears?" Gee, I think, that sounds so sensible. Why didn't I buy my new stove from Sears? I am going to need to purchase a new dishwasher in the next year, I'm sure that Sears is the sensible choice for all of my future appliance purchases.

Sincerely,

Jennifer

(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

As you can see, the damage was pretty severe. In the 1 year, and 9 months since the foot went through her ceiling, Deborah has being trying to get Ironwood Communications and DirecTV to properly repair the damage. As you can see from the photos, she hasn't had much luck.

She managed to get someone to come out to temporarily patch the hole, but the guy never showed up for any subsequent appointments. She called DirecTV/Ironwood again to request that someone come out and repair her ceiling and, instead, they sent a technician out to repair her cable.

I have been a customer of DIRECTV [redacted] for 7 years now. In April 2006 I replaced my daughters receiver with a dvr receiver. The replacement cost me $99 and there was to be no installation fee.

DIRECTV sent out Ironwood Communications to take care of the installation. While the technician was in the attic installing the second line to her bedroom, we heard a loud crash. The technician slipped and came through my ceiling in the hallway, leaving sheetrock and insulation all over the hallway floor. He was sincerely upset and worried about me being mad. I asked him if he was OK and let him know that I understood it was an accident and I just wanted them to repair my ceiling. He called his office and reported what had happened. They said they would send someone out the next day for the repair. He tried to tape the sheetrock back up but it kept falling down. I was also charged a $49 installation charge by Ironwood and they said this was standard, even though it is "free installation."

A couple of hours later, I called Ironwood Communications myself and asked them to send someone out right away as the tape was not holding the sheetrock in place and insulation and other debris was blowing through the ceiling hole. They said they would get back to me. I then called DIRECTV and explained the situation and they sent someone out the next day and he temporarily patched the hole. The repairman told me it would be a 3 day job because of the insulation, sheetrock, texturing, and 2 coats of paint. The repair would also involve painting the complete hallway. He set up the appointments for a few days later. He never showed. I called him again and setup another appointment and once again he was a no show. After that he could not be reached.

I then called Ironwood Communications and DIRECTV again. I tried to explain the situation to them and told them that I had already talked to them and they had sent someone out to temporarily patch the hole. They said they would send someone out. They sent a technician to fix the cable connection. I explained to him that I needed a hole in my ceiling repaired and showed him the hole. He called Ironwood and told them that there was in deed a large hole that needed to be fixed, not the cable. I heard nothing back for 2 months even after several calls. Once again I contacted DIRECTV and this time was transferred to someone who told me that I needed to file a claim and send photographs of the damage along with a letter explaining what happened. They told me I had 90 days to file the claim. I asked why I had to go through all this when the technician and I had already talked to them about it and they had already sent someone to do a temp repair, but I followed their directions and filed the claim with the pictures and letter. After waiting 90 days and hearing nothing back, I called again and got the same information. So once again I sent in a claim, pictures and letter, but this time I was told to add an estimate for the repairs. Still I have had no response even after numerous phone calls and letters. Apparently they have no record of my claims so they must be filed in the round file (trash).

It has been one year and 9 months later and I still have a patched hole in my ceiling. Because the patch is temporary, there is a gap of about an inch all the way around and in one corner an open triangular area about 2x2x3 inches. So whenever I have used my heater or air conditioner over the past 21 months, I have also been hearting my attic because of the hole. This has caused larger heating and cooling bills because they have to run more to heat or cool the space in the attic from the hole. I feel that I have been very patient with DIRECTV and Ironwood Communications but it is getting me nowhere. I am also in the process of selling my home and this hole has lowered the value of my home.

I have paid DIRECTV $99 for the leased dvr receiver along with $4.99 per month and a $49 fee to Ironwood Communications for their service call and for their technician to fall through my ceiling and leave a hole. Neither DIRECTV or Ironwood Communications is interested in repairing my ceiling back to its original condition even though I keep having to pay my monthly cable bill on time each month and now have to pay $199 for a HD dvr receiver if I want to upgrade.

Thanks for your help in getting this resolved!

Sincerely,
Deborah

You might also want to file a complaint with your local BBB, your state's Attorney General's office, and/or your state's Department of Consumer Affairs.

Also, you should probably hurry up. The statute of limitations for property damage is 2 years in some states.

Anyone else have ideas for Deborah?

On the plus side, the Verizon tech did not burn their house down... even once!

December 6th comes. They're scheduled to arrive between 8am and noon. They call and say they'll arrive at 10 am. They do. We are happy. They knock on the door and ask if anyone installed a fiber cable in the yard. They have not. They can't do the install because no one buried the cable. Ok. December 7th someone comes, digs up our front lawn, and buries the cable. We reschedule. Again. December 27th between 8am and 5pm. 5pm comes...and goes. No one shows up. Get back on the phone. They said they came but the cable wasn't buried. We tell them we've been home all day, no one has come, and the cable was buried on the 6th. They say they'll call us back. We call again the next day. They'll call us back in 48 hours. 48 hours comes and goes.

So I'm pissed by this point. It's been over a month, three appointments have been made. Furniture rearranged, time taken off work, etc. etc. I take a helpful tip from the Consumerist and e-mailed the CEO. That was a Friday night. Of course then customer service called and said they'd reschedule us (again) for January 10th. Monday morning came and we got a call from the executive customer service people. They rescheduled us (yeah, again) for January 3rd between 8am and 8:30am and waived our installation fee per my request. January 3rd came and went and no installer. I know, shocking.

She seemed quite sincere about this and I have no reason to disbelieve her. THAT really helps. To own up to the issue and try to make it better from here on out. Well, that and the waiving of the installation fee and the free first month of service we'll be getting after I spoke to the executive customer service guy again.

The Great FiOS Debacle -Updated [Jenn's Journal]
(AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Annoyed, he declined. Since that conversation, Verizon has been systematically proceeding with his conversion to FiOS without his permission.

First they wouldn't stop calling. They they started mailing him postcards. Then, trucks showed up and starting digging under his lawn. Soon, indoor installers showed up at his door, and finally Verizon has taken control of Matt's phone number and has disconnected it.

Vonage, his previous phone company, confirmed that Verizon had transferred the number (Verizon initially denied it) and is trying to rescue it for him, but Matt's phone is still not working.

It has now been nearly 72 hours since Verizon FiOS slammed me and then Verizon disconnected my phone so its time for an update:

• Still no call investigating my Slamming claim. 2 business days down and 3 to go.
• While Vonage has helpful and I was hopeful to get my phone service working is hasn't happened yet. I still get a "Number Not in Service" message or fast busy signal every time I call home.

What follows are the exact text excerpts, other than our phone number being removed from the first post, from the Better Business Bureau complaint that we have made, Case# 1168481. The background on our situation in the first post. I'm sure at least of your readers would find this amusing (as would we if we were not actually being screwed over by these fine folk). I have also attached two pictures as I think they're pretty funny(or sad, you choose). The first is of the fridge door and innerds (in the box) which have been on our front step since they missed their first visit. The second is of the fridge in the basement. We had defrosted the fridge and removed what we could to reduce the weight for the movers before the first visit. When they didn't show up we were concerned with mold so we moved the door outside and ripped off some of the plastic shielding to allow the water to evaporate.

Nathan [redacted]

BBB CASE#: 1168481

Initial complaint filed by us on Nov 8, 2007

We purchased a new Whirlpool fridge from the Chinook Sears store on August 29, 2008. As part of the purchase we paid an extra $20 to have our old fridge removed.

When our fridge was dropped off 2 weeks later on Sept 8, the delivery personnel said they couldn't remove our old fridge as it was old and too heavy and required a 4 man crew. They indicated that the salesman should have asked us the age and location of the fridge which he didn't.

We then scheduled the fridge to be removed on Sept 22 from 12-6pm. At just after 6 we contacted Sears corporate customer service to ask them what the issue was and they said that they would still arrive. They never did. A number of calls to customer service never resulted in an explanation as to why no one came and we were not called. They showed up on Sept 24 at 5pm even though no one called us to notify us, and of course we weren't at home. We then rescheduled the appt. for Oct 6. The same event repeated whereby we called customer service at 6pm and were told that to the best of their knowledge someone would come but no one did. The same event repeated two more times, on Oct 10 and Oct 27. We had even contacted a manager, Marylne, but that proved to be no more useful. Four appointments, four no shows and not a single call at any time to tell use that they were not coming.

A letter was also sent on October 8 to Ethel J. Taylor, Senior Vice-President, Corporate Store Sales on to which we have not received a response. The majority of this has been documented on Sear's customer service system under our home phone number, xxx-xxx-xxxx, though some CSR agents have not recorded the events.

Response from Sears Nov 30, 2007

upon investigation, customer had already accepted a gift card for this inconveniences, received a credit for the pickups. Sears delivery had tried to pick up the units, calling customer, knocking on door, ringing door bell, each no answer, we apologize for any inconvenience.

Our Response Dec 4, 2007

I find this response yet a further insult. Has the person responding even read the complaint or the notes on my file?

First, each of the two gift cards was provided as an inconvenience for two of the missed visits. We never received gift cards for the other two missed visits. I assume that the additional $100 is on the way? And that's just for the inconvenience of waiting around for several hours and have no phone call, no notice that anyone was not going to show up.

Second, the only time that Sears showed up, as recorded on my file, is on the Tuesday Sept 24, for which we were never even contacted to tell us that they were going to show up. We were told by the CSR agent that there was of course a mistake on their end. If we were contacted, we would have informed them that we would be at work and not available on that day.

If Sears is not interested in providing us with enough cash to pay for a reliable and professional company to remove our old fridge, they can come back and take the fridge we purchased from them and provide us with a full refund on that fridge.

I would ask that at the very minimum that who ever responds to this read the full complaint and our long history which has both been recorded on our account file as well as in a letter sent to Ethel J. Taylor, SVP Corporate Sales. Please quit further cementing in out minds that Sears is a company that no one should ever expect decent (never mind even good) customer service from.

Nathan

Their "Final" Response Dec 12, 2007

sorry to hear that had not received the gift cards that were issued. as per the policy of sears, the gift card sent will be cancelled and will request to have the cards re-issued.

Our "Final" response Dec 14, 2007

Are you kidding me? Did you even read what I said? No where did I say I did not receive the cards. What I said is that you offered $100 for only two of the four missed visits. Thus, simply for missing the other two visits you should provide $100 ADDITIONAL!

Come on, is enraging your customers really what you're trying to do because you're being very successful at that. You still haven't even offered a solution to the fridge which is still in our basement now 3 months after we paid you to remove it. What kind of customer service is this? Is this a joke to you?

Nathan

PS Please take the time to at least use capital letters. It shows that you've spent more than 6 seconds responding to a message.

As I will document below, Sears failed to live up to its warranty on multiple occasions, and because of this negligence my home has experienced considerable water damage.

In October of this year, I came home to find water puddled on my floor around the washing unit. I called Sears customer care to request that - in compliance with my warranty - they send a technician to fix the problem. They scheduled an appointment on a Wednesday two weeks later.

I'm a school teacher, so for that day I requested off work so I could be home when the technician came. I had received the automated courtesy call the night before confirming that they would come between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. At 4:45 p.m., when nobody had showed up or called, I called customer care again and was told that the appointment was switched until next morning (even though nobody ever bothered to call me to ask if this was ok).
I told the person that this was not acceptable, since I had taken off work and could not reasonably take off work again the next day. She said that since it was their mistake, that they would accommodate my schedule by coming at 5 p.m. the next day after I got home from work.

A technician called the next day and confirmed that he would be there at 5 p.m. As can be ascertained, nobody showed up. I called Sears again, and was told that nobody is ever scheduled after 5 p.m. and that that was a mistake. I was on the phone for about 2 hours, and finally they tried to "transfer" me to the manager, but my call was dropped, and when I called back nobody picked up.

I called customer care and scheduled an appointment for two weeks later (keep in mind that standing water has been under the units all this time, and I can't get to it because they're stacked). That Saturday, a technician showed up, ran the washer once, never unstacked the units, and declared that the problem "must have fixed itself."
Of course, it wasn't long after that I had a puddle of water on my floor again - this time I hadn't even run the washer in a week. Becoming more and more irate, I called and scheduled yet another appointment, making sure to mention that these were stacked units and that I needed 2 technicians so they could be unstacked and actually serviced. Since I didn't want to take off work, my father offered to wait at my house for the people to show up.

The appointment came around, and only 1 technician showed up. It was the same technician as before, he claimed that he couldn't do anything because it takes 2 technicians to unstack the units (even though I made sure to tell customer care that they were stacked.)

Sensing my frustration, the technician personally rescheduled the appointment and reassured me that two technicians would come a week later. I had to take the day off work. Both showed up, unstacked my dryer, and fixed the washer. But when they moved it out, there was still water on the floor, and my floor was completely damaged (after having water sit there for over a month because of their repeated failures). The technician informed me that the problem was one of installation because they put hoses on my machine that were too short and they wore down over time. Incidentally, the machines didn't even have to be unstacked to be fixed, and this was something he could have fixed the first time he visited. Because the damage was caused by a bad installation, he informed me that Sears is obligated to fix the water damage, and all I had to do was file a claim.

After several hours on the phone, being transferred from department to department, repeated "dropped calls," I finally got to file a claim that I was told was "most likely not going to be honored" since my installation was so long ago. I was also told that all claims should be responded to by phone within 48 hours.

Today is Sunday; I made my call last Wednesday. I have received no call and it has been well over 48 hours. This problem started in October - and after repeated no-shows, improper service, hours on the phone with customer care, two missed days of work, and inconveniencing my family, this issue has still not been resolved. So we've turned to you to possibly help alert Consumerist readers to Sears' shoddy customer service.

Thank you for any help you can give.

Sincerely,
Sapna

Sears' appliance repair technicians are licensed with the commonwealth, and complaints of this nature are the sort of things that a dispute resolution team could potentially help you with. We took at look at Virginia's complaint database and saw that the Sears Service Center in Richmond has 3 complaints and all 3 were eventually resolved in some way, so it might be worth filing a complaint.

You could also try an EECB using Sears' executive customer service contact info. Anyone else have advice for Sapna?

Office of Consumer Affairs [Commonwealth of Virginia]
(Photo:theogeo)

At this point I just about needed a new pair of pants because I felt like dropping a steamer. I thought "no freakin' way, they are here to fix the lady that lives two doors down and has not had it for TWO days?!" so I just responded "Do you want to fix mine too?" and he laughed. Then I said "No, I'm serious, mine has been broken for two months." He then realized that I was serious and asked what apartment I was in. I told him and his co-workers a bit of my story and they were kind of shocked that they were there for my neighbor and not me. They told me if they had time they would come by my apartment and try to fix mine also. I immediately ran into my apartment and called Verizon and spoke with an actual competent person named William. He actually cared about my situation and he made several calls and eventually got in touch with the local dispatch out here in Boston (Quincy) and confirmed my info and gave it to them. He then left a 'help' ticket open because he told me that the 'trouble tickets' are complete BS and 99% of the time they get lost in a void for a few months and then someone just closes them. With the open 'help ticket' whoever looked at my account next would see that first and have to close it out (or something along those lines). All of this took about 1.5 hours to complete. I thanked him for his help and began to patiently wait for my phone call from them. Today I get into work and around 9am I get a phone call from Verizon and the man on the other line tells me that he wanted to get in touch with me to tell me someone else will get in touch with me... Yes, a phone call to tell me that someone will give me a phone call. It literally was that long. About 15 minutes ago an account executive called me apologizing for the fiasco. She asked me if next Tuesday would be good for me to have the contractors and techs come out. I explained to her that I have already invested too much personal time and work time into this matter and that it must happen on a weekend. I then told her I would out of town from 12/22 - 1/2 and she said the next possible date was 1/5 for a weekend install. I then explained that I thought I should talk to someone about being compensated for all my time I have wasted on this issue. She said that I would "absolutely be compensated". When I asked about the free LCD TV she said that was out of her power because I did not have a phone line with them (the triple play) and I just restated how I was upset by this whole ordeal and she then said "Well.... Tell you what, after the install goes I will call you back and we will discuss the promotional deals." I figure even if that goes bad, I'll at least get a few months of free service for all this garbage.

I called my better half and informed her of this and she was still pretty upset. She could not understand why they would not make us an absolute priority and come in the night after work. I just write it off as Verizon caring about an individual customer, but not caring that much.

So, here is to waiting ANOTHER month to get FiOS. If Comcast didn't didn't suck I would just keep them... But for the same price I am getting HD TV (FINALLY! My Sharp Aquos has been longing for it) and much faster Internet service.

Hopefully this will be the end of this hellish saga.

-Thomas

Let it all out. The internet is for catharsis.

(Photo:wsh1266)

We were sold on the 20up/5down internet package and just the normal TV with HD service. We were passed to a salesman with at least two cell phones in his hands at all times who was constantly having either us or someone on the phone wait while he paced around the place. Very odd to say the least. Once we had filled out the paperwork we were then given one of his phones to speak with a Verizon rep. I explained that I wanted a weekend install and the rep on the other end said that just was not possible as they do not install on weekends. So we settle on the following Wednesday, I would just take off of work. Before I knew it a week had gone by and I was waiting for the Verizon tech to come and install my lovely FiOS package. Around 8:30 a man looking like someone that just got off of a three day crystal-meth bender shows up at my door. He comes in, has me take down ALL the clothes in my closet so he can get to the access panel that is right above the inside part of the door.... This did not make any sense to me either, but whatever.

I leave the room and go to my computer to do some work and about 5 minutes later he walks out without saying anything and then comes back after a 10 minutes absence. He does this about three more times until he comes back with a woman. This is when I realized they were either going to use my bedroom for something immoral or there was a problem with my install. They both go in and I hear muffled voices. They both come out and he explains that he broke the 'pull string' that is used to get the FiOS into the apartment and says "You won't be getting FiOS today." I understood that problems happen and asked what would happen from here. He and the woman explained that they would need the contractors who originally routed the Fiber to come out and snake it through again. I then asked if they did weekend installs because I can't afford to miss another day of work. Both the man and woman said "Oh absolutely! Did they tell you we don't?" He then said I would have someone call me very shortly and then they left.

I immediately called Verizon and informed them of the mishap. They were very pleasant and noted everything I had said (or so I thought) and the rep told me that someone would contact me by the end of the day. This did not happen, go figure.

Two days later on that Friday, I stayed home from work because I was under the weather and I get a call from what I imagine was the foreman and he says that he only has an appointment for the following Wednesday and that he "absolutely promises it will be installed that day!" because he was going to have a team in the basement (where the fiber comes in) and someone in my apartment. I reluctantly agree to the date. I then informed my girlfriend of the plans and she said that I should not have to take another day off of work because of their screw-up and I agreed with her and called Verizon to demand a weekend install. I spoke with another polite rep and said that I do not care how long I have to wait, I need a weekend install. He said they only have one for December 1st and that is the closest date he can get me, I agree and being to wait over a month for my tech to arrive (again).

Before the December 1st install date an actual real, red blooded, person called me to confirm the install. I explained to her what had happened the first time and she said that she had notes on it but was going to make more notes on it (wtf?). I did not understand why she would make more notes on the exact thing she had notes on but I confirmed the install date and got off the phone.

Come December 1st a tech showed up promptly at 9am and he comes in and to my shock, he did not ask me to remove all the clothing from my closet (thank god) and he goes to the access panel. He then comes out and says "Did someone come to re-route the fiber up?" and I told him that I had no idea and that no one besides him and the first tech had been in my apartment.

He then leaves to have someone go to the basement to snake it up. He comes up and goes back down about 4 more times and informs me that the fiber is stuck on something and that he needs to get the contractors out there to get into the walls to get it out... So basically said what the first tech had said! He was baffled why they even let him come out since this had not been done yet. He then tells me that when Verizon is giving someone the 'run around' like they are doing to me, they usually offer a 3-month free service package and possibly an lcd tv. He gets on the phone with the foreman and the foreman suggests $100 worth of gift cards for my troubles. I just laughed when the tech told me this. He then told me that the foreman would definitely call me on Monday the 3rd (yesterday) but could not give me a number to contact him. So the tech leaves and I have wasted yet another day of my time but this time was worse because I needed to drive to central New York from out here in Boston so leaving without having my FiOS installed left a rather displeasing taste in my mouth.

While in New York (on Sunday) I get an email on my iPhone that my Verizon FiOS install has been rescheduled for Monday the 3rd of December between the hours of 8am and 5pm. At this point I lost it. Not only do these incompetent people not know what the hell they are doing, but they are scheduling ALL DAY appointments without even seeking approval from the customer! At this point there was not a phrase in the English language that could express my utter disdain for the ineptitude of this company.

On Monday morning I make yet another phone call to tell explain the exact same thing I have to everyone I spoke with. The rep said that I did indeed have an appointment for Monday and I demanded the number to the foreman in my area to which he was unable to provide. He did however put in a (completely f*cking useless) "Trouble ticket" to my local dispatch for them to call me. Keep in mind, the foreman was supposed to call me this same day too. Come Monday night no one has called and I am still FiOS'less.

It has been about two months since I originally signed up for service that was supposed to be installed within a week. I have no clue who to call to not have wade through there completely useless automated machine garbage (although I find it cute how every time I call it tries to connect to my set-top box... the set-top box that I don't f*cking have!). Excuse the poor grammar, sentence structure, etc... and feel free to clean up the expletives I've included in this rant about the sh*ttiest company on the face of the f*cking planet.

-Thomas

If you're not into that, try sending this email to Verizon's CEO. We hear that gets results.

(Photo:wsh1266)

After a first failed installation in which no tech showed up and no one at Comcast could (or would) explain why, Bob's install was rescheduled for September 9. 11 days later. It didn't go well.

— September 9. Installer shows up on time at 9 a.m. At 12:30, installer leaves to get a drill bit from a nearby service tech's truck. Five hours later, he is still missing. He has failed to connect one TV, and 2 of 4 phones do not operate. He has also cut off half of existing DirecTV service.

— Comcast customer service asks for "a quick moment" to investigate. Fifteen minutes later, they return to ask for "one more moment." I am on hold for another 32 minutes. During that, I use another line to call customer service. I ask for a supervisor. I am not permitted to speak to one. I am told somebody will call me back. Nobody calls back. Customer service operator on first line takes me off hold in minute 50 to tell me a tech is on the way. I tell her I have been on hold for a total of 48 minutes. She says I haven't been. I ask for a supervisor. I am told I'm not permitted to speak to one. One will call me back. Nobody calls.